An exemplary method for a producing a piezoelectric vibrating piece having at least one mesa step includes forming a metal film on a main surface of a piezoelectric wafer. A through-groove is formed through the thickness of the wafer to form a plan profile of a desired piezoelectric substrate. A film of photoresist is formed on the surface of the metal film. A resist is applied, exposed, and formed into a resist pattern that defines a first mesa step along at least a portion of the plan profile. In regions not protected by the metal film, the piezoelectric substrate is etched to a defined depth to form a mesa step. The denuded edge surface of the metal film is edge-etched. A second mesa step, inboard of the first mesa step, can be formed by repeating the edge-etching and substrate-etching steps using the metal film as an etch protective film.